The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1887-09-01
DAVIS. OF NEW oRLEANs.

OF three very SureWO raSc8tS nun2 up
| the town for three or four weeks in way
which annoyed as not . little They
were chaps known as porch climbers, and
! the way they did their business was sim.
ply click. Porch climbing was then 10
It's infancy. A sneak thief might be ready
TO take advantage Of an open door OF
window on the lower story, but as for
"shinning ap" . column to reach q bal
cony, or using light ladder 10 enter q
chamber window, no one had ever tried
| it.
The very frst job done by the gang re-
suited in haul of $500 worth Of jewelry.
Your common thief no sooner has any
plunder in his hand than lie hastens off
to the pawnshop to make . raise. This
jewelry was not put up, neither were the
second and third hauls. Then we knew
that We bad % deal with rascals who had
come welf heeled aud we're holding on to
their stnf or shipping it to some other
city for sale. The first three robberies
were made at the supper hour, when an
the family were iu the dining-room or
down stairs. The papers made such an
ado about it as TO place citizens on their
guard, and the thieves changed their
hours. 1t was in summer, and very hot
westher, and all up stairs windows were
open for ventilation. They went into
three or four houses through second story
windows in the evening or up to ~ late
as midnight, and cleaned out jewel cases
without being seen or heard.
Perhaps the boldest feat was the sixth
job undertaken. There was small one
story house standing beside an elegant
mansion. The little house was on q cor
ner. One of the fellows mounted to the
roof, crept along to the larger house, and
then ascended the tin conductor on the
big house to bathroom window. The
blinds inside were locked, but be hung to
the sill with one hand until he could open
them with the other. People on the street
saw him, and policeman called out to
know what he was doing. The fellow
was then sitting in the window dangling
his legs in careless way, and he re-
piled:
"Jim and do that for exercise every
night"
With that he disappeared into the
bathroom, and proceeded to ransack the
various rooms on that floor. 1t seemed
that all the family except q daughter
were away to neighbor's, and the young
lady had beau in the parlor. The SER
wants were out on rear veranda, and
the rooms were thus at the mercy of the
thief. He took his time in making his
search, and, while he was after money
and jewelry first, he did not despise
laces, operarglasses and valuable bric-a-
brac. He made up q large bundle of
stuf. took a cigar which he found on a
mantel, and was putting away in the COOL
est manner when he descended the front
stairs The girl heard him and came out
into the hall and asked:
"Did you want to see papa?"
"Yes, my DEAR" was the ready reply,
"bnt he seems to be out. Tell him cali
ed, will your"
"What is the name p
"Wilcox-Judge Wilcox. l brought
my Egyptian curfos uvor for him 70
look at, but some other night will do as
WELL"
She saw him depart without thought
of how he entered, and the robbery was,
of course, discovered later on. The de-
tectives were instructed to let everything
drop to hunt down these slick fellows.
and there was any amount of cursing and
jawing over our i'll luck. We had every
hotel and boarding house under strict
scrutiny, but we could turn up no suspi-
cious characters answering to the de-
scription of these. The man who sat on
the sill of the bathroom window was said
to have long black whiskers. The one
who passed for Judge Wilcox had au-
burn Burnsides, and was an unctious sort
OF q fellow. Five hundred men could
have been found in days hunt to an
swer these descriptions. For many days
the postoffice was watched, strangers
were dogged about, depots guarded, and
gardens and concert halls looked af-
ter, but we made no arrests At
least every second night there
was fresh robbery, and every Sec
ond day the papers had opportunity
to come out with fresh article and be-
labor us- We were seemingly doing all
that men could do, and our position was
truly uncomfortable. The climax came
about in the oldest sort of way. On one
of the fashionable thoroughfares lived an
old maid-that is, she was one of fam.
lily, being, if remember right, the mans
sister. She was pretty we'll of, and al
ways had several hundred dollars in q
bureau drawer in her room. She had
read about the work of the gang. and
was in state OF terror for fear the house
would be visited. One day a brilliant
idea occurred to her. She would capture
one of the mob. She planned it that one
Of them would climb up to her corner
window by means of the conductor, enter
without disturbing her, "a she was
sound sleeper, and 60 for that money.
What did she do bat 90 out and buy .
notwithstanding big enough to hold
. fox. She got one Of the servants to set
it for her, and the open trap was placed
in the top bureau drawer, and the chain
led out through the back side and made
fast.
Two nights passed without another
depreciation. We were keeping such
shary lookout that the fellows had to be
more fly. On the third night, ct exactly
. quarter of IL, the old maid was aroused
from her deep sleep by human yell Of
pain, and she was no sooner on eud than
she saw that she had caught her man.
He was down on his knees in front of the
bureau, and both hands were fast in the
trap. His first yell was his only one.
Whom he found the woman was awake he
calmly observed
@Excuse me, but think I'm in the
wrong room. Please don't make any dis
turbance about it.''
W VVhA ~yn,, ~ 8